The present invention relates to protective enclosures which may be locked to protect contents stored or mounted in the enclosure. Accordingly, the present invention is particularly adapted for containing vending apparatus so as to protect deposited money against theft and to protect the vending apparatus against vandalism or other physical damage. Of specific interest to the present invention is the protection of air dispensing apparatus wherein air pressure is provided to a dispensing hose for a timed interval determined by the vending apparatus.
Throughout history, there has been an ever increasing need for safe storage containers that secure valuables and the like. The need for secure storage containers is particularly keen where those storage containers are located in isolated areas that are nonetheless accessible by the public. Vending machines in the form of a secure housing and a vending mechanism comprise one area of this need. Despite the fact that vending apparatus do not typically contain unusually large sums of money, there is still the propensity for various individuals to attempt the robbery. In order to be cost efficient however, the protective enclosure for vending apparatus must, itself, be relatively inexpensive yet resistant against vandalism.
This need to provide secure enclosures for vending apparatus has been recognized in the past, and has also been recognized for the specific application of vended pressurized air. One such prior art device describing tamper-resistant housing is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,371 issued June 5, 1984 to Jurek. This disclosure describes a device having a formed enclosure complete with a hinged door. The door includes a pair of metal loops formed on its interior so that, when closed, a locking bar may be vertically positioned through a pair of slots in the enclosure to be mateably received through the loops. The locking bar has a first angled end to prevent its passage complete through the enclosure and a hole is formed in the opposite end which receives the shackle of a padlock. A recessed housing portion is sized to physically receive the padlock and to limit the access thereto. A similar protective enclosure and lock housing was earlier developed on a protective enclosure sold by the assignee of the present applicant. In this prior device, a padlock was protected by providing an external cylindrical shield that surrounded the padlock.
Despite the protective features provided by the housing described in the Jurek patent and in the housing earlier developed by the present assignee, these protective enclosures were still somewhat receptive to vandalism. For example, a vandal could still obtain enough leveraged access to a lock so as to distort the housing a sufficient degree to remove the lock with a bolt cutter. Further, these prior art enclosures allowed direct access to the locking bar so that entry could be attempted by destroying the hook on the locking bar and sliding the bar completely through the enclosure. Even greater susceptibility to the integrity of these enclosures resulted from the ability of a vandal to break the metal loops off of the hinged door by prying the door away from the locking bar or by drilling the hinge so that the enclosure could be open from the hinged side of the locking bar and metal receiving loops were intact. Further, the top, bottom or sides of these boxes could be distorted by a pry bar so as to allow manual entry into the enclosure.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to providing a protective enclosure that greatly reduces the susceptibility of the enclosure to vandalism through either an attack on the locking bar, the hinge or the lock or by the distorting of the enclosure by prying against its surrounding side walls or door frame structure. Thus, the present invention provides specific advantages over the prior art structures by increasing the security of the contents of the enclosure by reducing the ease, and therefore the likelihood, of vandalism.